Japan–Turkey relations

Japanese–Turkish relations

Japan
Turkey

Japanese–Turkish relations are foreign relations between Japan and Turkey. Japan has an embassy in Ankara and a consulate-general in Istanbul. Turkey has an embassy in Tokyo.

History

Ottoman Empire

The Japanese cruiser Kongō in Istanbul, 1891, following the Ertuğrul incident, by Luigi Acquarone (1800–1896).

Relations between the two countries started in the 19th century. A foundational event occurred in 1890, when the Turkish frigate Ertuğrul sank off the coast of Wakayama, Japan, after having an audience with the Meiji Emperor. The surviving sailors were taken back to Istanbul by two Japanese frigates. A monument commemorating the Ottoman sailors has been erected in Kushimoto of Wakayama Prefecture, near the Kushimoto Turkish Memorial Museum.

Efforts to establish treaty relations between Japan and the Ottoman Empire failed because of Japan's insistence that it receive capitulations like the other Great Powers and the Empire's demand that the two countries negotiate only as absolute equals.[1] During the World War I, Japan was one of the Allies while the Turkish Ottoman Empire was one of the Central Powers.

Ottoman–Japanese Trade[2]
Years Ottoman Exports to Japan (yen)1 yen= 12 kurush Ottoman Imports
1902 1.189 41.860
1905 342.389 50.632
1907 130.394 70.598
1910 944.824 81.166
1912 138.665 162.675

Republic of Turkey

Following the founding of the Republic of Turkey, diplomatic relations were established in 1924 and first embassies were opened in 1925.[3]

While Turkey had declared war on Japan in February 1945, it was also entirely symbolic.[4] So in 1985, the almost century old gesture of kindness was reciprocated during the Iran-Iraq war. As hostilities escalated to an extent that all aircraft were threatened with being shot-down, Turkey sent an aircraft in to rescue 215 Japanese nationals who were living in Tehran at the time.[5] The Turkish government issued a statement: "We have not forgotten the rescue of the sailors of the Ertuğrul. Thus, once we heard there were Japanese citizens in need of help, we went to their rescue."

Japan was also involved in a plot with Young Turk exiles to set up a puppet state in Central Asia and Xinjiang with a former Ottoman Prince as its monarch in the 1930s. During the Kumul Rebellion some Japanese secret agents were captured.

2010 marked the 120th anniversary of Turko-Japanese relations with over 186 events held throughout Turkey during the year. In this year, Turkey held the "Japan Year 2010 in Turkey." On July 10, 2010, Prince Tomohito of Mikasa, cousin of the emperor, attended the opening ceremony of the Kaman Kalehöyük Archaeological Museum. The museum was built with funding from Japan. The prince has often engaged himself actively to promote Japanese-Turkish relations. Moreover, in the wake of Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 and the earthquakes in Turkey's eastern part in October and November 2011 respectively, both countries provided each other with support, which strengthened the relationship between the two nationals.[6]

Political relations

Embassy of Turkey in Japan

Turkey and Japan are both members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Also Turkey is a member of the Council of Europe, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and Japan is an observer.

There are 10,000 Turkish citizens living in Japan, constituting an important aspect of Turkey's relations with Japan.[7]

The Japan-Turkey Society was established in 1926 and has since been promoting amicable relations between Japan and Turkey through seminars, the arts, language and cultural exchange and even culinary exchange activities. [8]

The Turkey-Japan Cultural Dialog Society was founded in 2006, but records cultural and other types of exchange activities between Japan and Turkey since 1873. [9]

According to the public survey in Turkey conducted by the Japanese Foreign Ministry in 2012, 83.2% of respondents answered that the relations between Japan and Turkey are "friendly" or "almost friendly".[6]

Kurds

Main article: Kurds in Japan

The Japanese government has not granted refugee status to any of the Kurds in Japan who have fled from Turkey due to persecution and resulted in them living in destitution, with no education and having no legal residency status.[10][11]

The Japanese government has not granted protection or refugee status to asylum seeking Kurds from Turkey while it has granted them to Myanmar asylum seekers, the lack of protection has led to bullying by Japanese children against Kurdish children in schools because they look physically different.[12]

A clash took place outside the Turkish embassy in Tokyo in October 2015 between Kurds and Turks which began when the Turks assaulted the Kurds after a Kurdish party flag was shown at the embassy.[13][14][15][16][17]

Visits

There have been various exchanges of visits by eminent persons, such as the visits of Crown Prince Naruhito in March 2009 and Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada in January 2010. On the occasion of visit to Turkey by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in May 2013, "Joint Declaration of the Establishment of Strategic Partnership Between Japan and the Republic of Turkey" was signed and on the occasion of second visit in October 2013, "Joint Declaration by the Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of Turkey on cooperation in the field of Nuclear Energy and Science and Technology" was signed between Prime Minister Abe and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. [6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Renée Worringer, Ottomans Imagining Japan: East, Middle East, and Non-Western Modernity at the Turn of the Twenteith Century (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).
  2. ↑ F. Şayan Ulusan Şahin - Türk-Japon İlişkileri (1876-1908) s.122
  3. ↑ Turkey´s Political Relations with Japan / Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  4. ↑ TURKEY'S DECLARATİON OF WAR ON JAPAN AT THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR by Rona Aybay
  5. ↑ Japan-Turkey Relations
  6. 1 2 3 http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/middle_e/turkey/data.html
  7. ↑ "Japonya Türk Toplumu (Turkish Community of Japan)" (in Turkish). Embassy of Turkey in Japan. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  8. ↑ http://www.tkjts.jp/about/index.html
  9. ↑ http://www.nittokai.org/history/
  10. ↑ http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/09/03/national/japans-kurds-often-limbo-despite-significant-community/#.Vi2nMStGQrd
  11. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/thejapantimes/posts/10153047164913344
  12. ↑ https://www.umb.edu/editor_uploads/images/mgs/mgs_conflictres/35_Kurdish_Refugee_Children_in_Japan.pdf
  13. ↑ http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/turks-kurds-clash-japan-turkey-elections-151025194639100.html
  14. ↑ http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/10/25/national/seven-injured-clashes-outside-turkish-embassy/
  15. ↑ http://sputniknews.com/asia/20151025/1029071175/kurds-turks-fight-in-japan.html
  16. ↑ https://www.rt.com/news/319619-turkey-embassy-kurds-clashes/
  17. ↑ http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/10/25/434883/Turkey-Japan-Tokyo-Clashes-Snap-elections-

External links

  1. ↑ "About Japan-Turkey Society", Japan-Turkey Society (Japanese)
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